As third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunication technology networks spread, an increasing number of smart terminals (e.g., mobile phones with Internet access and relatively more advanced processing capabilities) are being used to access the internet. Consequently, an increasing number of new applications (apps) are being developed according to user demands relating to Internet access and using the advanced functionality of smart terminals. Many functions that users previously relied on computers (e.g., PCs) to perform are now being performed completed by smart terminals. Although smart terminals are bringing more and more functionality to users, smart terminals are also suffering a defect, namely increasingly high power consumption.
When a terminal is in a standby mode, the terminal consumes less power than when the terminal is in an operating mode. Therefore, when a terminal has less surplus energy, the user generally will set the terminal to standby mode so as to conserve power. However, many apps run on the terminal not only while the user is operating the terminal, but also when the terminal is set to standby mode. Such apps periodically wake up the operating system in the background and communicate with networks. Thus, relatively large amounts of power are being consumed unbeknownst to the user.
A terminal tends to consume a relatively large amount of power when the terminal is set to standby because periodic wake-up times associated with various apps running on the terminal are not consistent. Accordingly, one app can be woken up when another app has just entered into standby state. As a result, the operating system is constantly being woken up by the various apps and does not stay in standby mode.
Conventional art addresses the problems associated with inconsistent wake-up times of various apps running on a terminal by adopting a “unified heartbeat” approach. According to the “unified heartbeat” approach, the wake-up times for all apps within a system are unified to the same wake-up time. Thus, all the apps in a system may be woken up at the same time. However, because each app has a different wake-up cycle need, such an approach will adversely affect the performance of some apps. For example, WeChat™ is an instant messaging software. If the wake-up cycle corresponding to WeChat™ is configured to be consistent with other software which does not involve instant requirements (e.g., an online translation dictionary), the unified wakeup times would diminish WeChat™'s instant messaging performance, especially when the wake-up cycle is set to have a long interval such as one hour.
Letting each app set its own periodic wake-up time means that mobile phone power consumption is relatively high during standby mode. However, the unified wake-up time approach diminishes the performance of some apps.